Happiness
by ishangchan
Summary: Sai and Sakura are always together, a red-haired child calling Sakura mama, Sakura performing Kishō Tensei  Chiyo's own life reincarnation technique . There are many surprises for Sasuke now that he is back in Konoha. Read and review please :
1. Teammates

Happiness

Chapter 1: Teammates

It was a good fight. No, it was a great fight between two great ninjas. They were rivals. They were best friends. It was a fight to bring him back home, a fight that fulfilled the promise of a blonde boy to a cherry blossom, a fight that reunited their team, a fight that hoped to bring everything back to the way it was before. It was the long awaited fight by all and now it was over.

Both did great, but in every fight there will always be a loser and winner. Uzumaki Naruto won over Uchiha Sasuke. Their fight ended with their fists touching, like how Naruto communicates with the Hachibi, like how Sasuke and Naruto did during their genin years. It was something that brought tears to their female teammate. When both of their fists touched, the blonde grinned and the raven-haired boy smirked. The two ninja collapsed right away which made their pink-haired medic teammate run to them instantly, healing both of them. A masked jounin ran to them too and carried the two unconscious ninjas after the medic healed them.

It had been two days since that fight. They are all now back in Konoha. Naruto and Sasuke were still unconscious, lying on their hospital beds. Everyday Haruno Sakura visits them. It can't be helped since she was the one assigned to look after them. But she truly cared for them both. They were her teammates, her protectors, her family. They were the reason why she wished to become stronger. They were part of the people to thank for the way she is now.

Haruno Sakura was a great medic. After all, she is the apprentice of the greatest medic ninja, Tsunade, the fifth Hokage. She can instantly heal her teammates and wake them up from their long slumber, but chose not to. Truly caring for Sasuke and Naruto, she wants them to have all the rest they can have. Even if that means the two of them would be unconscious for days which means she won't be hearing from them for quite a while, it didn't matter to her. Their bodies were too exhausted from that fight. They used up almost all of their chakra. They should definitely get a lot of rest. This was also the order of the Godaime.

It had been a week now. With the kyuubi inside his body, Naruto healed faster. He woke up first. Upon hearing this, Sakura ran immediately to his room. Seeing him finally awake, seeing his blue eyes once again, tears filled her eyes, making her vision blurry. Her arms wrapped around the boy's shoulders. The patient closed his eyes and hugged his teammate back. Their hug lasted for seemingly an hour, though it was not actually that long. The pink haired kunoichi was just too emotional that she forgot everything else for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Sakura chan. I made you worry, didn't I?" These were Naruto's first words after a week of being unconscious. "Thank you for taking care of me all this time." He grinned, that grin, that face that Sakura wished to see again. Seeing it once more made her smile sweetly.

"Of course, it is my duty to take care of you, not only as your medic but also as your teammate," Sakura replied.

Two days after waking up, Naruto was finally discharged. He was really happy. He can finally eat his precious ramen at Ichiraku. And of course, this was the first thing he did upon stepping out of the hospital.

There he met Iruka sensei. He knew that Naruto would head first to Ichiraku when discharged. He had been waiting for his favorite student. "Yo!" he said. "How would you like it if I treat you some ramen for being discharged of the hospital?"

"I really like it! Come on let's eat. Hospital food sucks, they don't taste good. They don't taste like anything at all." He grinned.

Though Naruto was already discharged, he was still made to come to the hospital for his daily check up. He didn't actually mind. He also wanted to come visit Sasuke anyway.

He sat on the chair beside his best friend's bed. Ten days passed and Sasuke still hasn't woken up. Naruto just watched his friend's sleeping face. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, he saw Sasuke's mouth twitched. Naruto's eyes widened. He was surprised to see Sasuke finally move. Now, the once missing nin's eyes are opened.

"Oy Sasuke, you're awake!" There was really no need to state the obvious. But Naruto, being the idiot that he is, still had to say it.

"Naruto," Sasuke said as he realized that Naruto was the one making the noise. No, actually he knew that Naruto would be the only one capable of being that loud. It was annoying for him to hear some loud voice upon waking up.

"Wait, wait teme. I'll call Sakura chan." With that said, he ran through the door. Sasuke could hear him calling for Sakura loudly. He also heard a nurse telling the jinchuuriki to be quite. Naruto definitely shut his mouth, as he could not hear his voice now. All he could now was loud footsteps. He could tell that the ones responsible for them were running. They must be Naruto and Sakura, he concluded in his mind.

"Sasuke kun!" Sakura shouted upon entering the room. She immediately ran beside Sasuke's bed and hugged him. Realizing that Sasuke didn't like physical contact, she let go after a few seconds. This Uchiha Sasuke in front of her may no longer be the same as her Sasuke kun back in their genin days. She doesn't know if she was still allowed to hug him like how she used to do when Tsunade healed him before. She mentally slapped herself. Of course, that was in the past. They were so young then, still little kids. The Sasuke now is different. She was not even sure if she still knows him.

So even if she was reluctant to do so, she had to let go of him. She wanted to hug him so much. She wanted to cry tears of joy that he was finally awake. She wanted it to be like before, when her shishou healed him and she hugged him and cried, yet he didn't push her away. How she wished it could be like before. Though Sasuke didn't push her away a while ago, she knew it was only because he didn't have the chance. The hug only lasted for like three seconds after all.

"It's good that you're finally awake, Sasuke kun. I'll do a check up on you first." She smiled at him. There were tears forming in her eyes but she held them back. Crying would make her seem weak. She didn't want to look weak in front of Sasuke. But in the back of her mind, she knew that Sasuke would forever look at her with those eyes that scream at her, telling her that whatever happens, she would always be a weak girl to him.

After the check up, Sakura wanted to stay with him and Naruto. She wanted to chat with him, if she could. Just as she was about to sit down, some nurse knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, Haruno san. I just came to remind you about the operation which would start in thirty minutes," the nurse said.

"Ah. I'll be right over there. You go first," she replied.

The nurse bowed and closed the door.

"Sorry Naruto, Sasuke kun. I have to go." She smiled. "Naruto, don't let Sasuke kun move too much. Let him have some rest, okay?" With that said, she ran to the door, waving at her teammates.

Though she was supposed to be in a hurry, she walked slowly upon closing the door behind her. Looking down, tears flowed. She was truly happy that Sasuke was awake. She didn't want to leave his side yet, but she was somehow glad that she had to. Many years hved passed. She doesn't have any idea what to say to him now.

She already has a lot to worry about. Talking to Sasuke would surely just make her feel even more down, knowing he would not be interested in having a conversation with her. She can't be distracted any longer. Now that Sasuke is doing better, she'll start focusing on other important matters.

Seeing a pair of feet in front of her, she stopped walking and looked up. "Sai," she said. She didn't know why but seeing Sai brought a smile to her face. Though she was smiling, tears kept flowing.

Sai smiled back at her. He walked towards her, with his arms stretched in front of him. Upon reaching Sakura, he wrapped one arm around her waist, while his other hand was holding the back of her head, pushing it closer to his neck.

"You're here, Sai." Sakura cried more. Being held like this just made her want to cry more, to let it all out. Not knowing why, she just felt relieved that Sai was here with her. He was not only just a teammate to her. He had become a good friend. They got closer as time passed.

"Yes, I'm here." Sai held her tighter, leaning his chin on top of her head.


	2. A Beautiful Family Picture

I just edited this chapter. Just added a little something on the end (actually, i just moved the first part of chapter 3 here hehehe). So to those who already read this and the next chapter, there's really not much changes. :D

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><p>Happiness<p>

Chapter 2: A Beautiful Family Picture

Sakura cried a lot before the operation. She cried a lot while being held by Sai's arms.

She actually just wants to rest and not go through the operation. Her eyes are now red and really tired. Sleep, she needs sleep. But being such a responsible and reliable medic that she is, she put aside her pain and pushed through the operation, which was successful.

Her shift in the hospital is finally over. Preparing to leave her office, she let out a sigh of relief. She can finally rest. As she opened the door, she saw Sai standing outside, his arms crossed.

"Sai," she mumbled. Her green eyes widened. "Why are you still here?"

Sai flashed his famous fake smile. "Here." He threw something to her. Sakura caught it. "Apple. Eat it." Again, that fake smile.

Sakura smiled sweetly. She and Sai became really good friends. She doesn't even know who she's closer with: Naruto or Sai. But they're both her friends so it doesn't matter.

Sai is very thoughtful and caring. On days that the medic of team 7 is working hard, he would make sure to bring her something. On days off, he stops by to chat. Whenever she's feeling down, Sai always lends her his shoulder. If Sakura wants to cry, he would hug her to suppress her cries so others won't hear. He is just always there for her.

As they exited the hospital, Sakura stopped walking. "Ah! I forgot something," she declared. She immediately ran back to her office.

While Sai was waiting for his friend, he could feel a pair of eyes watching him. He looked up and saw Uchiha Sasuke by the window of his room. He smiled at him. Knowing Sasuke, he did not expect any acknowledgement from the sharingan user.

Sai heard Sakura call for him. She was panting. As she reached him, they started walking and left.

Three days after waking up, Uchiha Sasuke was discharged of the hospital. Like Naruto, he was also made to come to the hospital for daily check up and replacing his bandages.

Sasuke was on his way to Sakura's office when he met Naruto on the stairs.

"Oh teme. Going to Sakura chan too?" Naruto grinned.

"Hn."

Looking at the clock, Sakura noticed that it's almost lunchtime. Since no patients are coming and all her paperwork are finished, she decided to have a break. Just as she was about to take out her bentou, there was a knock on the door.

The door opened after a few seconds. It was Sai.

"I brought dessert and tea." He raised a bag.

"Thanks. Let's eat together, Sai." Sakura smiled. She cleaned her desk, putting her files aside. She then took out her bentou, preparing to eat.

They talked about Sai's recent mission, the latest book he read, Sakura's patients, the work in the hospital. They can talk about anything. Sakura can't keep quiet when she's around Sai. She really enjoys his company. The same goes for Sai.

"That reminds me, how are they doing?" Sakura asked.

"They're in the other room. They were sleeping when I left. I asked Yuuri san to watch over them," Sai replied.

When Sakura was about to speak, someone knocked. She guessed it must be a patient. Break time is almost over. She and Sai were also finished with their lunch.

The door opened and revealed Naruto and Sasuke behind him. "Sakura chan! It's time for check up!" Naruto declared. He seemed excited. "Oh Sai, you're here."

"Aa. I was just about to leave." Sai was cleaning up.

"EEEH? You ate together?" Naruto asked when he saw Sai packing up bentou. "That's not fair Sakura chan! I never had lunch with you whenever you're working in the hospital." Just a while ago he was excited and now he's sulking. Naruto can really change mood fast.

"Be quiet Naruto. You're in a hospital." A vein popped on Sakura's wide forehead.

"I'll be leaving first," Sai said.

Sai headed to another room.

"Sai san, Sora kun is awake," someone behind him said.

"Yuuri san. Thank you for watching over them. I will go there now." He smiled.

Sai was reaching the doorknob when the door suddenly opened. It revealed a child with red hair and dark green eyes, filled with unshed tears. His skin is pale, but not as pale as Sai. He is pale yet he was glowing. He has a beautiful and cheerful smile like Sakura. The child was wearing a white long sleeve shirt and red shorts that stops right above his knees. Sai can't help but notice the bleeding wound on the boy's right knee.

"Sora, what happened? You're bleeding." He kneeled to check on the wound.

The young boy raised his hands to cover his eyes. He was crying. "It huuuuurts! I tripped. It really hurts!" The boy kept crying. Sai figured that he must have been holding back earlier. Sai looked inside the room and saw a baby sleeping peacefully.

"You didn't want to wake Saeka up, huh?" He patted Sora's head. "It's okay now. Let's go inside. I'll treat your wound." The boy grabbed his hand and went inside the room.

Sai was looking for a bandage when the baby in the room cried. "Sora, can you wait a little? I'll just feed Saeka."

"Hai," the child replied. He sat on the bed and looked at the bag that Sai was carrying earlier. '_Food. I'm hungry_,' he thought. He got down from the bed and took an onigiri from the bag. "Can I eat this?"

"Sure. Help yourself," Sai replied, smiling.

Sora was done eating and Sai was done feeding the baby. Still, she won't stop crying. When Sai carried her, she stopped for a second then cried again.

"Maybe she wants to see mama," Sora said innocently.

"Mama is busy now, Sora."

"Eeeeeeh," the boy whined. "I'll just go see her for a bit. She can treat my wound, ne?" Sai repeated his last statement. Still, Sora ran to the door despite what Sai said. He followed after the child. He could have caught up with the red haired child, but the baby's cries got louder. Walking slowly and trying to calm Saeka down, he lost sight of Sora.

"Alright Sasuke kun, we're done," Sakura said as she sat back to her chair. "You are doing well. Come back tomorrow." She smiled. "And Naruto, come on time. Seriously, you're scheduled in the morning." The medic sighed.

"But I woke up late! And I met Iruka sensei at Ichiraku." Naruto scratched his head. "Oh Sasuke. Let's eat Ichiraku! It's my treat!"

"Hn. Whatever," Sasuke said as he put his shirt back on.

The door suddenly opened and a young boy with red hair entered.

"Mama!" The boy exclaimed as he ran to Sakura.

"Eh?" Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time.

Sai, carrying a crying baby, followed the boy. "Sorry. I told him you were busy but still…"

"I really wanted to see you! Saeka too! She kept crying. She misses mama too," the boy said, walking towards Sai and Saeka.

Sakura was just sitting on her chair quietly, looking at Sora, Saeka and Sai.

"Waaah." Sora cried. "I'm sorry. I just really missed you. Are you mad?"

Sakura smiled. She stood up then walked towards the three. "I'm not mad," she said, placing a hand on the boy's head, patting it. She took the crying baby from Sai, humming a lullaby, trying to calm her down.

Sora smiled and hugged Sakura's leg. "Mama!"

Sakura holding a baby, a child hugging her, and Sai standing beside her, smiling – it looked like a beautiful family picture. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were intensely staring at this beautiful family picture, not knowing how to react.

Finally, Naruto screamed, "Wa-waaa-waaaaaaait!" The "family" looked at Naruto, while Sasuke looked at his friend from the corner of his eye, obviously annoyed with how loud Naruto is. "Oy kid," the jinchuuriki said while pointing a finger at Sora. "If Sakura chan is mama, who is papa?"

"Papa?" the red haired young boy put an index finger on his lips, looking down, seeming to be thinking deeply. Then he raised his head, turning it and looking at Sai. The boy grabbed Sai's pants and opened his mouth and was about to say something but Naruto interrupted.

"Nooooooo. No! No!" Naruto screamed while having tears flowing from his eyes to his cheeks. He kneeled and covered his face with his hands, exuding a really dark aura.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review guys! I wanna know what you think about this story :) Thank yoooou<p> 


	3. Her Smile

Hi guys. Just edited chapter 3. :)

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><p>Happiness<p>

Chapter 3: Her Smile

Naruto looked really depressed. Meanwhile, the red haired young boy looked confused. Observing Naruto, Sakura wanted to laugh at how he overreacted. But she felt bad, looking at how down he seemed and felt the need to explain things to him.

"Ne Sora, why don't you go outside and play with Sai for a while?" Sakura said while smiling at the young boy.

"Hai," Sora replied, also smiling at the pink haired kunoichi. He immediately grabbed Sai's hand and ran outside.

Sakura walked towards her depressed teammate. Grabbing his right shoulder, she pulled it making Naruto stand up. When he was finally looking at her straight in the eyes, the same hand that grabbed him earlie was placed on his cheek. "I'm his mama for now. He's my responsibility," she said, having unshed tears in her jade eyes.

Sasuke was just standing behind the two of them, observing. All this time, he has just been observing everything that's going on. So far, after days of coming in Sakura's office for check up and watching her as she works, he figured that she is a really good medic. There were also days when he had to sit and wait with the loud Naruto while she was treating other patients. And of course, he observed her. He saw that she likes healing others and seeing their smiling faces once she's done. It always brings a wide smile on her face, showing how truly happy and satisfied she was, and also relieved for doing a good job. Her smiles today were something new for Sasuke's eyes. They were different from what she always showed him back in their genin days. They were almost similar to her smiles whenever she knows that he and Naruto were not seriously injured after a fight, or whenever the two of them would argue like children but act like nothing happened afterwards. Her smiles then showed that she was glad but her smiles now show true happiness and satisfaction, one that you feel after working hard.

It was then that Sasuke understood that it was all because Sakura was working hard now. Unlike before, she always had to depend on him, Naruto or Kakashi. She couldn't do it on her own then. If the three were not by her side, she wouldn't be able to do anything. He remembered what happened during the chuunin exam, when he and Naruto and even Lee were all unconscious, leaving Sakura with no one to protect her. He knew that Sakura cut her hair that she took care of with all heart to protect her teammates. But in the end, team Asuma still came to her rescue. When it failed, Sasuke still ended up saving her. But he also can't forget the fact that Sakura, his once weak teammate was the one who saved him from doing something that wasn't, as Sakura was thinking at the time, like him. "This is not Sasuke kun" was what he figured she was thinking then. She hugged him from behind, making him regain his sanity.

Based on his observation, Sakura really enjoys Sai's company. She is really comfortable with him, like he's part of her family. And what Sasuke saw just a while ago really seemed like a beautiful family picture. He understood the idiot jinchuuriki when he thought that Sakura was actually a mother and the replacement was a father. But Sasuke, being the genius that he is, knew that it was impossible. Well, if Sora was the only "child", that is. Judging from the child's appearance, the Uchiha guessed that he was more or less five years old. That would mean that Sakura got pregnant at 13, which he knew that never happened. But he noted that there was a baby, the one that she was still holding in her arms, that's less than a year old. He was gone a long time, making him clueless of what actually happened to her. But Naruto obviously doesn't any idea of what's going on, so did she bear a baby last year or not?

Just now, Sakura said that she is his mama for now and he's her responsibility. That means she is taking care of the boy, just taking care of him for the time being in place of someone else. So was it the same for the baby? With a clueless Naruto and with Sakura's earlier statement, he concluded that the baby is also just her responsibility.

"I'll show you something. Come with me," Sakura said as she turned around. She was walking slowly towards, making sure that the baby wouldn't wake up. Naruto followed her. Sasuke wasn't sure if he was invited too, but followed them anyway.

They entered a room. At the center of the said room, there was bed with a woman lying down on it, sleeping. She also had pink hair, but a darker and duller shade than Sakura's. Her skin is very pale, and her body looked really weak.

"This is my aunt Sayuri, Sora's and Saeka's mother. She has a weak heart. I'm taking care of her children until she gets well," Sakura said calmly.

"I'm sure she'll get better soon, Sakura chan. Your patients always get better, ne?" the blonde said cheerfully.

"No, Naruto. I'm not the one in charge of her, though I help," she replied.

The next day, their daily routines continued as if nothing surprising happened the previous day. It was no longer surprising after everything has been cleared out. Sasuke and Naruto, as usual, were asked to come to the hospital for check up. But Naruto was awfully late, so Sakura concluded that he wouldn't be coming. She could visit him at home and do the check up, she thought. With Naruto absent, Sasuke and Sakura were alone in her office.

It was quiet, really, really quiet. Though the medic couldn't stand the awkward silence, she couldn't bring herself to utter a word. The topless Sasuke just had his expressionless face on, sitting quietly as he lets Sakura do her job. But she couldn't really stand the silence. Ever since he came back, she had so many questions to ask him. '_That's it. Start a conversation_,' she thought.

"You're doing good Sasuke kun. Most likely, in three days time, you won't need to come here everyday," she said as she finished replacing the bandages, smiling at him like she usually does with other patients.

"Hn."

'_What can I say now?_' she thought.

'**How about "I missed you" huh?**' Inner Sakura suggested.

'_I know. I almost forgot to talk about his health._' Sakura ignored her inner self's thoughts.

'**Sasuke kun, I missed you. I'm glad you're back. I'm glad you're okay now.**' Inner Sakura kept saying in Sakura's head.

'_Let's see. How is his body doing again…_' She's really ignoring her inner self.

Sakura was lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice what was happening: the bandage and some papers fell on the floor. She stepped on them and slipped. Falling forward, her head was about to hit the edge of the desk. She was too surprised to prevent her fall. Her eyes closed, expecting the impact any second now. But realizing that there was no thud sound and not feeling any pain that she should, she sighed and smiled. She opened her eyes, which widened after realizing what actually happened.

Sasuke's left arm was grabbing her waist from behind, while his right has was holding hers and pulling her against him. Her head was now leaning on his bare chest.

She looked up at Sasuke with wide eyes, her face really red. Sasuke was at the same time looking down at her, onyx eyes staring straight at jade ones.

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><p>Let me know what you think about this chapter by leaving a review. :) Chapter 4 will be coming reallyyyyy soon. Haha. Sorry. I've been busy (well...I will explain properly in the next chapter) Anyway, thanks for reading! :)<p> 


	4. Nostalgia

Super sorry for the late update. I've been busy with school. But yay, it's vacation time now! Actually, vacation started almost a month ago but I've been lazing around, catching up some sleep and some fun. Haha! Well anyway, here's chapter 4!

And no, I do not own Naruto. If I did, there'd be lots of SasuSaku hehehe 3 ;)

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><p>Happiness<p>

Chapter 4: Nostalgia

Sasuke's left arm was grabbing her waist from behind, while his right hand was holding hers and pulling her against him. Her head was now leaning on his bare chest. She looked up at Sasuke with wide eyes, her face really red. Sasuke was at the same time looking down at her, onyx eyes staring straight at jade ones.

Then they both heard the sound of the doorknob turning. Sasuke immediately let go of Sakura, while the latter picked up the papers on the floor.

Sora entered the room. He was about to give his mama a tight hug but stopped. Remembering his manners, he bowed and greeted Sasuke. Sakura taught him well. Sasuke just eyed the boy.

Turning back to Sakura, who now finished picking up the papers, Sora handed her a bento. "Mama, here's your lunch," he said cheerfully.

"Thank you Sora," the medic nin replied as she patted the boy's head. "Where is Sai? Why isn't he with you?"

"Sai niichan has a mission. He says sorry for not telling you. Sai niichan won't be coming back for a few days. But he promised to play with me as soon as he finishes the mission!"

"Is that so?" Sakura smiled. "What about your sister?"

"Sleeping. Yuuri san is with her."

"I see. Do you want to eat together?" Sakura placed the bento on her desk. "Oh right. I haven't introduced you. Sora, this is Sasuke kun." She said while moving her hand towards Sasuke. "We used to be in the same team with Naruto and Kakashi sensei. You know them, right?"

"Un. I wanna be like Kakashi sensei when I grow up! He is so cool!" Sora exclaimed. "And uhmm… Naruto?" The boy placed his hand below his chin. "Ah! Naruto baka?"

Sasuke snickered while Sakura's eyes widened. "Whom did you hear that from?" She asked.

"From you. I heard you and Sai niichan talking. And Sai niichan calls him di…" Again, Sakura's eyes widened and covered his mouth.

She leaned down and whispered to the boy. "You shouldn't listen to adults' conversation. And don't you say that word. You should forget that word." She looked up and smiled at Sasuke. Turning back her attention to the young boy, she lifted Sora and sat him on her lap. "Come on, let's eat."

"Ano, Sasuke niichan, would you like to eat with us?"

"I'm gonna leave. You enjoy your meal," the sharingan user replied as he put his top on.

"But it's lunchtime already. Mama always tells me to eat on time. Hai, onigiri." Sora handed him the rice ball. "Mama made that. She makes delicious onigiri." He said with a wide smile on his face.

To Sakura's surprise, Sasuke accepted the food. "Aa, arigatou." With that, Sasuke left.

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><p>A few days have passed and Sai is back with a scroll in hand, which he handed to Sakura. She opened it. As she read it, her eyes brightened up and her lips curved into a smile. "Thank you Sai! This will really help!"<p>

"Sakura you should go to the Godaime's office," Sai said.

"I already know what shishou would say. I already tried convincing her before," she replied, looking at the floor. "Anyway, I would go to Suna tomorrow. Really, thank you for your help Sai."

"By the way, Ino-san and the others were looking for you. She said they would eat at a restaurant."

"Aa, I got it. I'll leave first. I'll just go home to change my clothes." She headed to the door.

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><p>All the rookie 9 plus Sasuke were occupying one huge table. The serious ones, namely Neji, Shikamaru, Sasuke and Shino were quietly enjoying their tea. Choji was happily eating his fourth bowl of Katsudon. Naruto and Kiba were arguing loudly while Lee was trying to stop them. Meanwhile, the girls were catching up with each other's lives.<p>

In the middle of argument, Naruto stopped, saying "Ah, Sakura chan, Tsunade baa-chan was looking for you earlier."

"Oy, oy, oy. You're avoiding the topic. I'm telling you…" Kiba interrupted.

"Shut up dog boy. I'm talking to Sakura chan." Naruto answered back.

"Why don't you sh…"

"Come on you two, stop it." Sakura grabbed both Kiba's and Naruto's shirt, pulling them apart.

Lee stood beside Sakura. "Nothing compares to the power of your youthful beauty Sakura chan." Lee said while placing a hand on the medic's shoulder.

"Thank you Lee," she replied but removed his hand from her shoulder. "Uhm. It's getting too noisy here, ne? Maybe I'll go outside for awhile."

Sasuke also went outside and brought a bottle of water with him, not noticing that Sakura went out first. He couldn't last another minute of the loudness of everyone inside. It's giving him a headache. He needed some cool air to calm down.

He sat on the bench that was located a few feet from the restaurant. He placed his bottle down and relaxed himself on the bench. Closing his eyes, he let out a deep sigh.

It was quiet that night. There were only few people walking on the streets since it was pretty late. Many shops were already closed. The quietness of the night made Sakura, who was sitting under a tree that was on the far opposite side of Sasuke's bench, hear the deep sigh.

"Sasuke kun?" The young man raised his head. "Sasuke kun, why are you here outside?" Sakura started walking towards him.

"Hn." He turned his head. "You're here too," he mumbled.

"Ah, that's right," she laughed shyly. "Well, it was too noisy inside, ne?"

Sasuke didn't reply. It was just like their genin days – Sakura always did the talking while the only sound she would hear from Sasuke were either "hn" or "you're annoying". She wanted to show him that she was different now, but she couldn't help but keep the conversation, if you could call it that, going.

Sakura sat down beside Sasuke but still left some space between them. She knew that he liked it when people respected his personal space. "Do you remember Sora?" Sasuke did not react at all. He just kept looking at the ground, as if he didn't hear her. But still, Sakura kept talking. "Well, he said you looked cool. He also said to take care of your health better so that you would get well faster."

Sasuke raised both his eyebrows, but was unnoticed by the girl beside him. Sora would probably be like a medic in the future, like Sakura, Sasuke concluded.

As if reading his thougts, "Sora wants to be a medic in the future," she said while smiling, obviously proud that the young boy idolizes her. Then her expression changed. She was now looking at the ground, her eyes filled with sadness. "He said he wants to cure his mom and help other people." Sakura smiled for a second. "And I will make sure that happens."

The Uchiha can't help but notice the determination now present in her eyes and voice. It seemed like there was a story behind that, something deeper and more meaningful than merely hoping for your young cousin's, who you take care of, dream to come true. But Sasuke had no idea what the story was.

"Aunt Sayuri probably has more or less a year left." A tear fell from Sakura's eyes. Finally, Sasuke turned his head to her.

"Ah, I'm sorry for talking too much, Sasuke kun." She wiped her tears.

It was just like before – Sakura would get carried away with talking then apologize later on for talking too much, while Sasuke didn't care at all.

Actually, Sasuke somehow wanted to do or say something, but had no idea what. He was about to offer her water, but Sai suddenly appeared.

"Sakura, I have something to show you," Sai said. He also smiled at the one sitting beside her. Meanwhile, Sasuke's eyes trailed down to the scroll in his replacement's hands. Sai noticed and gripped the scroll tighter.

Sakura apologized to Sasuke for suddenly leaving and left with Sai. The Uchiha watched the two of them. Sai placed a hand on the medic's back and patted it. He must have been comforting her. The girl then laid her head on his shoulder, crying again.

Sasuke unknowingly frowned. He grabbed his water and drank all of it. There's something he does not know and he hates not knowing things. He frowned again, disappointed.

* * *

><p>The next day, Sasuke was back for his check up. After their usual routine, Sakura updated his medical record while Sasuke sat down on the stool in front of his medic.<p>

While Sakura was writing, she kept glancing at her patient. When he noticed, she would focus again on the clipboard. Then back to stealing glances at her old teammate.

"What?" he suddenly said.

"Uhmm.." She put the clipboard down. "I will leave for Suna later. I'd probably be back in a week. So uhmm… for your last two check up, another medic would do it for you." She hid behind her clipboard.

"Okay," he said and suddenly stood up, heading for the door, leaving the medic confused. Sakura didn't know if he was mad or he just didn't care.

After a few hours, Sasuke found out that he left his towel in Sakura's office. He went back there and there was nobody in the room. He looked around. There were a lot of papers neatly piled on Sakura's desk. There were also two scrolls, one was the scroll Sai was holding last night, left open, together with a few documents. There was also a yellow paper. Sasuke was not the type to pry into other people's business, but there's something about that scroll that made him want to read it. He read the yellow paper first which was a letter from the hokage.

_ "Sakura, don't involve yourself in your aunt's case. I know you've been secretly doing research during your breaks. No matter what you say, I won't allow you to treat her. You're too attached. I'm sorry, but I promise you and you know it too that the other medics are doing their best. _

_I allowed you to take a few days off to go to Suna. I trust that your only business there is visiting Chiyo's and Sasori's graves. Please don't do anything unnecessary. You might only end up hurting yourself._

_Take care of your health Sakura. You're a medic, you should know better. Get some rest while you're in Suna. It's your break after all. No more funny business, okay?"_

Sakura breaking her shishou's orders is something new. It only made Sasuke even more curious. So he read all the documents in front of him. They were all about treatment of heart diseases. The scrolls contain information about healing different ailments related to the heart. There wasn't any information that appeared to be bad for Sakura, yet Sasuke felt uneasy. There was something that was not right. He immediately left, still thinking what Sakura could possibly do.

* * *

><p>Sakura was prepared to leave. She was now walking to the gates of Konoha. When she raised her head, she saw Sasuke.<p>

"Sasuke kun, it's late. What are you doing here?" she asked.

Ahh. This feels nostalgic, only this time it's the other way around, Sakura was the one leaving.

"Just passing by," he replied. He continued walking towards her.

"Oh, okay. Good night then, Sasuke kun. Take care." She smiled and continued walking.

When she walked past him, he suddenly spoke. "What are you trying to do?"

It caused her to stop her tracks. She was sick of that question. Tsunade have always been asking her that. It's as if what she does is something unreasonable, something wrong. It just pisses her off. "What? I'll just visit Chiyo baa-sama's grave and Sasori's too."

"Really?" Sasuke questioned again.

"Well Sasuke kun. What I do doesn't concern you, right?" though she was a little pissed, she still smiled. Her smile probably looked like Sai's.

"You're my medic. If it's nothing important, you could postpone it for another two days, until my check up finishes," he casually replied.

"It's their death anniversary. It's important. Chiyo baa-sama is really important to me."

"I see. Good luck," he paused. "on whatever it is you're trying to do."

There it is again. He's teasing her, isn't he? It's really pissing her. Inner Sakura could explode on Sasuke right now. Really, that's how pissed she was. She looked down on the ground, her bangs covering her eyes and her fists clenched. "Sasuke kun." She paused. "You're annoying" Then she continued walking.

Meanwhile, Sasuke smirked and also continued walking. Then he frowned. "Not as much as you," he mumbled.

* * *

><p>This chapter is longer than the previous ones. Well, hope you liked it. Leave a review and tell me what you think. Also, any suggestions? Haha. I'm still not thinking of what I want to happen in the next chapter. Help me out. XP<p> 


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